


Familial Ties

by fairytalehearts



Category: Jane the Virgin (TV)
Genre: F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-04 03:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2907230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairytalehearts/pseuds/fairytalehearts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mariana Gloriana Villanueva Solano was born in the middle of a hurricane. Rafael tries to remember which one but he can’t because he lives in Miami and that was just the weather. It was so insane, the rain, the backed up traffic. He ran Jane two miles in the pouring rain to the hospital. It was so over the top Rogelio pitched it to one of his soap operas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I make no profit from this work of fiction. I tried to make this as soap opera as possible with the whole memory loss thing.

Mariana Gloriana Villanueva Solano was born in the middle of a hurricane. Rafael tries to remember which one but he can’t because he lives in Miami and that was just the weather. It was so insane, the rain, the backed up traffic. He ran Jane two miles in the pouring rain to the hospital. It was so over the top Rogelio pitched it to one of his soap operas.

He remembers the rain, not because it hurt (because it did) or that he could barely see (which was also true) but because Jane was in pain. Between contractions she was screaming at him to run faster, her nails digging into his neck. He almost slips, running into the emergency room because he was soaked, Jane was soaked and if the blood trail on his neck was any indication the baby was coming soon.

They were arguing about something stupid like her name. He had let Jane pick the first name. And the middle name. So naturally he thought Solano would be the best choice for the last name. But then it started raining and that was a story for another time.

The baby is born an amazingly short twenty minutes later and his little angel was sleeping in a pink little blanket.

Rafael loves to think about these moments, the stressful ones that lead to his insane happiness. This morning, in fact, had been just as amazing as the last. He had gotten up early with his wife and gone for a run, their daughter safely at her abuela’s house. They needed some personal time every once and a while but after their run they made love in the shower which while slippery, was very memorable.

They had breakfast together and damn, if he wasn’t more in love with her every second she inhaled her waffles with cheese and hot sauce.

“You know this nice, quiet apartment won’t be for long.”

Rafael did his best to make a shocked face and took his wife’s hand in his own, “Are you challenging me? Because I can go right now and call in sick to make love to you all morning. All. Morning.” He accented each word with a kiss to her wrist, looking up at her brightness.

“Rafael!” She blushed, “I have a meeting at my publisher’s, remember? You are horrible sometimes, you know?”

Her voice squeaked the last few words out so he knew she was considering it now.

Winking, he padded over to the closet and decided their weekend off was over. Work was back, Mari needed to get to school and the hotel did not run itself. He turned around to show Jane his tie options and was greeted to the sight of her slowly unbuttoning one of his shirts down-

“My meetings not til 2, mijo.”

The minx winked at him and hoped they wouldn’t mind if he was late to the department head meeting-

His cellphone went off in the middle and seeing it was Jane quickly dismissed it, apologizing for the interruption. His secretary, cut in, awkwardly walking past the finance guys to hand him her cellphone.

“Hannah, we’re in a meeting-”

“It’s Mari.”

“That’s ridiculous Mari doesn’t have a cellphone.”

It never occurred to him that his daughter knew how to use a cellphone. That there would one day be a time where his little princess, who liked pink and painting and playing soccer, would be a young woman like her mother was and would have problems and need to call him because she would not always live with them in the hotel.  It never occurred to him that his perfect life that he had worked so hard for would one day change.

These things all occurred to Rafael in a disturbing thought process, which was only enhanced by his seven year old, crying on the telephone he had been too stupid to grab. “Papi?”

He’s not exactly sure what Mariana says, the image of his daughter needing help suddenly replaced with his wife, bleeding on the side of the road. She had just left the hotel twenty minutes ago. That was just enough time to pick up Mari and head downtown for her meeting-

He shouldn’t be getting calls from a seven year old saying Mommy had an accident. He shouldn’t have to remember where to park or where their health insurance cards were. That was Jane’s thing. Because even though he liked to think he was more mature now than he ever was, it was because of Jane. She was his rock. His world.

_“Daddy we- we-were in an accident.”_

Someone drives him to the hospital. There’s no way he could drive like this, clutching his cellphone praying that no one called saying his wife had died. He only felt the real urge to pray to God twice and the other time was when he proposed to Jane. He asks for her to live.  Short. To the point.

He doesn’t know how it happens but a nurse is explaining to him that Jane fainted and there was a car accident, which wasn’t her fault- someone had stolen a car and crashed into them and she was stable and in surgery and he was somehow at the hospital and his baby was in his arms crying. The last time he had been to the hospital was when Mariana was born. Seven years ago. Seven years of happiness and playing it safe and that was not enough time. Mariana could not lose her mother especially if he could not function.

She had two stiches but otherwise she was fine. He was nodding at strangers telling him about his wife’s condition.

“We need to see her.”

He was a man of “we” now. He had to think of Mariana at all times.  She was upset and bleeding and the man who hit them was walking around fine. Michael had taken the case over from the beat cop and Jane was unconscious. Old Raf, the Raf he liked to think was gone, would punch the perp til he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t do that in front of Mari.

“Hey, Em. Why don’t you go play with Nadine.” Michael smiled sadly, closing the door to the perp’s room. Nadine waved from down the hall and Mariana went running over while Michael brought him to the end of the hallway, away from prying eyes.

“This was a kidnapping attempt.” Michael handed him the photo of Mari and Jane at the beach last summer. He was in the background laughing. An angry red circle drawn over his daughter’s face, “There are hundreds of these in his car, at his place. Someone paid him a lot of money to nab your daughter. He told me that Jane and Mari normally go for frozen yogurt on Mondays. They deviated and he saw this as his chance.”

“Which is why Major Crimes took the case.” Rafael nodded. He didn’t understand any of this. Listing his enemies was a short list, none of them would dare touch his daughter. Most people, who remembered Old Raf, knew what he was capable of.  He could be ruthless.

“He had implicit instructions not to harm her or Mari. That’s not even the weirdest part. Someone _else_ cut the brakes in his car.”

Rafael suddenly hated everyone. Everyone, everywhere.  Things had been so great lately and now this shit pile, “You don’t think Magda would-”

“I don’t know what she’s capable of. But Petra is the one person we can cross off the list of your enemies.”

The nurse summoned him back to Jane’s room where she was just waking up.

“Oh god, Rafael, the baby!” Jane’s hands went to her flat belly, feeling around for a bump that wasn’t there. Things weren’t adding up-

“Jane, Mariana is fine.” Raf explained, “Just a couple little scratches.”

Jane looks wide-eyed at their daughter and then back at Raf, “How long was I unconscious? I was just five weeks pregnant!”


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane tries to adjust to her "new" life

CHAPTER ONE

When Rafael was a little boy, sometime between becoming a playboy and his mother leaving, Rafael was well, a good boy. He and Luisa, were used to being brought places like luggage, the longest he’d ever stayed in one place was The Marbella. One year and three months of his life, he’d run around (the much smaller, less grand, hotel) while his father built up his empire in Miami. They didn’t even own the hotel at the time but he’d run around there anyway- Luisa in that phase of life where she was too old to play with her little brother.

Anyway, it was his first hotel that he loved and even though he didn’t know it at the time, he would one day become the sole owner of The Marbella. It also, unbeknownst to him, was the first time he would meet his future wife, Jane.

Most little people (he hated the word ‘children’) did not attend Musica de Salsa on Thursday nights. Since Luisa had discovered girls she had left him alone at the hotel during her “babysitting time” and all of the interesting waitstaff had left for the day. His father was off with his business partners or their future stepmother, these facts were his reality.

So he might as well go to Musica de Salsa and watch the old people dance. Sitting in his usual spot, close enough to see but far enough to be considered “distant”, he watched the old people (who were actually not that old) swing their partners around in circles. It was beautiful.

Interrupting his thoughts, a woman, dressed in a long flamenco dress came up to his balcony and deposited one Jane Gloriana Villanueva onto a chair. “Janie, I’m so sorry but your abuela had to work and this is the first gig I’ve gotten in a long time.”

She then kissed "Janie’s" forehead, and promised she would be back at her break in two hours.

Rafael remembered thinking that he wished he had a glamorous mother who could sing and dance and was pretty. And one that would kiss his head when she left (unlike his own mother who was in places unknown)

“Hola.” Jane waved.

“Ciao.” Rafael responded, walking down the aisle to sit closer to her.

“You’re supposed to say ‘hola’ back.” Jane corrected him, “Or como estas. Mi abuela me está enseñando Español.” 

Rafael was learning Italian so he responded, “Lo siento. Mi tutor me está enseñando Italiano.” He also knew French but Luisa had told him not to show off to girls that he had just met. Jane asked him if his father was one of the band members and he said no. Then she asked if her father worked at the hotel, and he said no. Then she asked if his mother worked at the hotel and he said no. Rafael could not recall seeing a more confused little girl in all of his life.

“I don’t have a Mom.” 

“I don’t have a Dad.” Jane confessed, her curiosity getting the best of her, “Why are you here?”

“I live here.” He responded. 

“People live in hotels? Where does your abuela cook arepas? Or _Grilled Cheese_?” Rafael chooses not to tell the girl he’s never had grilled cheese.

Two hours of questions and the girl’s mother returns as promised. “This is my friend Rafael he speaks Italian.” The girl told her mother. Wondering how she knew, he looked down to the hotel key in his hands that clearly said Rafael on it, he listened to them chat for a few minutes before her mother went back downstairs. She pulls a book out of her backpack and the two of them sit in the dark, waiting for the band to start back up. 

"Are you hungry?” He blurts suddenly. 

"My Mommy told me to stay here.” Jane doesn't look up from her book.

“I can go to the kitchen. Chef Manny likes me.” Rafael goes to the kitchen and tells Chef that the extra food is for Luisa. The two of them eat tapas in the balcony and she makes sure to leave enough for her mother and abuela.  Neither of them remember the meal, the music or the balcony. Rafael however, does remember the first time someone genuinely smiled at him. It was something he wouldn’t see again for another twelve years, soaking wet, in four feet of water. 

**

 

This was karma. Some twisted sort of karma for what he did to Lachlan, what he did to Michael. Someone tries to steal his daughter from him, almost kills Jane in the process and now she didn’t remember loving him. Getting kicked out of the room in favor of Michael brought up some old wounds.

Mariana was crying in earnest now, and he did his best to comfort her. “This is not your fault.”

He needed Jane to remember them. He needed her advice and her comfort and her smile. He needed her smile. Did he tell his daughter someone tried to kidnap her? Did he call his lawyer? The doctor told him not to force too many memories on her. Oh, god, her father, her abuela-

Rogelio showed up in his trademark sunglasses, ducking the paparazzi in the lobby, Xiomara tucked safely under his arm. “Where is Jane? What happened?”

“There was a car accident. And Jane doesn’t remember anything from the past seven years. Michael is in there explaining that they’re not engaged anymore.”

Xiomara doesn’t get it for another few seconds, “Oh. She doesn't remember Mari? Or my mom-”

“-Or Me.” Rafael frowns at Rogelio being- Rogelio.

Xiomara doesn’t seem too worried about him though, “Oh, Raf, sweetie, don’t worry. Jane had feelings for you long before she ended things with Michael. I wouldn't worry about your spark.”

That was oddly comforting.

Michael comes out of the room, and he looks like he’d been shot. “Jane needs a minute to process. We may need to restrain her when you go in. The nurse said one at a time, and I- I’m sure you’d like to go in next.”

He couldn't tell if Michael was serious (he was definitely serious) and Raf did his best to go into her room with a strong face. He would want Jane to do the same for him. She looked better than their first conversation. More color in her cheeks. He sits down in the world’s most uncomfortable hospital chairs and she sits with her hands folded.

“Tell me about her? Mariana? Michael told me the basics, I ended the engagement and I decided to keep the baby and we- we fell in love. Got married? He said he was happy for me.” She was upset and he could understand why. Her fiancé told them they were no longer together.

But this was his wife. The woman he spent the last seven years with. The woman who laughed and cried with him and the one he got up for in the morning. But she was not the same. Not cold but, distant. Definitely distant.

“She loves everything. Reading, Science, Soccer. She loves soccer. She wants to play in the Olympics. She is so pure and kind and sometimes I look at her, really look at her and think that maybe my screwed up life is forgiven. I am going to be okay because she is so happy all the time. And that’s all you Jane- I can’t imagine someone being a better Mom. I know you don’t remember but my Mom left when I was younger than Mari and I know your mom wasn’t perfect but wow, you’re amazing. You show me that everyday we can do anything together and-”

He’s crying now because he doesn’t know what to do or say or how do you summarize seven years to the love of your life when they don’t remember you? “I am selfish. I need you to come back to me.”

“I can’t promise anything, Rafael. But I will try.”

Her phone rings from the nightstand, her publisher’s number coming up on the display. The ringing ends and then starts up again, and Raf reaches across her to grab it, “Jackie. Jane is in the hospital- there’s been an accident. Yes. I can try to email you tomorrow.”

He hangs up a little more violently than intended.

“Jackie?”  
  
“Your Agent. Your second book is getting made into a telenovela.”  
  
“Second book? As in there is more than one?” She seems genuinely shocked, he can tell she’s recounting every story she’d ever written, she wrote short stories by trade and writing a novel long enough for a television show was something she was so afraid to do. Let alone two.

“Mrs. Solano- you’re free to go anytime. Your mother’s filled out the paperwork. If you have any pain, your husband has your prescription and we’ll see you for a follow-up in a few days.”

He would take her back to the house she is familiar with, but after Alba- they sold the house and it only made sense since she was moving into the hotel and Xo was moving in with Rogelio. Respectfully turning so she could get dressed, she eyed the very expensive dress she’d been wearing earlier and nodded appreciatively.

The door swung open, Rogelio darting into the room. “Hello Jane.”

She freezes, grasping for his arm instinctively, “Was I going to die? Rogelio De La Vega doing some make-a-wish thing?”

“Rogelio is your father.”

Her fingers dug into his arm when Rogelio hugs her, followed by her mother.

“Janie, please don’t be mad at me- you were mad at me already for this. Trust me.”

“So Rogelio De La Vega is my father and you guys are together now? And Michael is with Nadine and I am married to Rafael, and I have a daughter I can’t remember. She is so beautiful, Ma. I graduated and wrote two books and I can’t remember any of it.”

She notices her fingernails are digging into his arm and pulls away, embarrassed.

He shows her the old scratch marks on his arm and tells her everything is going to be fine. “I’m going to take Jane home and we’ll get everything figured out.”

**

They did not in fact get everything figured out.

Jane spent the remainder of the day wishing she could remember her life with Rafael, her father Rogelio, her daughter. It was little things like Mariana, who was named after Rafael’s mother, would come into her bedroom and expect her hair to be braided, or Rafael not knowing where her lunch box was for school tomorrow. Things she should and would know. After ten minutes of looking it was already in the refrigerator. With a note that said "A peach for my peach, Love Mommy". Apparently that meant something to Rafael and he made his excuses to go to his office.

They didn't have photo albums, but her computer was pretty much exclusively pictures of the three of them. Her mother was there of course, singing at her first concert, going to Rogelio’s mansion in Spain. Rafael was always there smiling with his stupid teeth. Michael apparently had done something terrible and she broke off their engagement and now she was with Rafael. For almost eight years. And their life looked great-

It was all so perfect if only she could remember.

Later when Rafael was in the shower, she briefly wondered if this was an occasion where- Older Jane/Current Jane/Other Jane would join him. Space wasn’t an issue at all- when she went to pee earlier it was definitely three times bigger than the tub at Abuela’s house. They had been intimate and raised a great kid and all of the things she couldn’t’ even imagine.

Jane held her stomach and knew that nauseous feeling was something other than her current crappy situation.

Rafael comes out of the shower, naked as the day god made him, no towel.

He definitely did not look seven years older. Nope. Still hot. He seemed to forget about her memory loss until he’d bent over to grab boxers from their massive walk-in closet. And caught her ogling at him.

“What? Sorry.” He blushed a little, those stupid dimples of his still just as cute.

“We’re married so everyone keeps telling me.” Jane shrugs, “The doctor said to do everything as normally as I would- if everything was normal. This is normal. I emailed Jackie the rest of my book, which is amazing and we talk right- about stuff like all the junk food you let our daughter eat? And private school? Really?”

Rafael laughs and it sounds so familiar to her, like a song she used to love that she can’t remember the words to. He explains that they had this argument already. “The junk food is yours by the way. Fruit strips and popcorn are like the healthiest things you eat. And Grilled cheese. Lots of grilled cheese. Which is also not that healthy unless you eat vegetables or fruit with it.”

Jane holds up the candy bars she found in an empty box fruit strips. “Hey, pal, I’m a Mom. I know your tricks.”

The words come out of her mouth on their own volition, something she must have said before and she has to punch his arm to end the awkward gawking the two of them were doing.  Rafael, what she knows of him is impulsive and crazy and when he kisses her and she feels like drowning. That is what she knows about him-

“Ducks. I remember ducks.” She laughs, “I was trying to think of what I know about you, and you’re afraid of ducks.”

Rafael pouts at her and moves to his side of the bed. He hands her a kindle and he takes his own, putting on possibly the nerdiest glasses he could have picked out. “I lost a bet three years ago and now you make me read ‘literature’ in preparation of your Pulitzer.”

“This book is called ‘The Unauthorized _Sea of Caldera_ Biography’.” Jane tells him, flicking through some of the pages.

“The Executive Producers of that show are the producers of your show. You’re trying to decide if you like them or not. You called one Slutbag and one is Valeria and Victoria’s new Mom. Slutbag is male and new mom is a woman.”

Jane can’t comprehend this news or his glasses, so she starts the book over at the beginning and snuggles into Rafael’s side. He falls asleep less than twenty minutes later and she turns off the lights and gently removes his glasses.

Padding into the living room, Jane turned off the lights and made sure Mariana was in bed. Which she was not. Assuming the pink slippers near the door were hers, she went out to the balcony where she was tucked into a daybed. People were still at the pool, drinking in the garden and she was so entranced.

Crawling under the covers with her, she tried to remember braiding her hair or taking her to school. Nothing. Looking at her, she got the distinct image of a princess overlooking her kingdom. Sad and alone.

“Frankie was looking for you.” Mari says leaning against her, “You were supposed to have a meeting about tomorrow. She’s the entertainment director. You and Daddy are putting her through business school. You’re on the board for Miami Public Library and they’re having tea in the garden. You’re reading your children’s book.”

The girl’s tablet has her calendar up, June 24th highlighted in red.

“That’s my birthday. Tomorrow.” The girl starts crying, burying her face in Jane’s side. At that moment, Jane felt like dying. The thought had never occurred to her, but her baby, the one she remembered was the size of a walnut. This girl needed her mother and Jane couldn’t do that for her. She didn’t remember how.

“I said I would give anything for a little sister in church yesterday. I got my wish.”

“Oh, mira, you can’t think like that. I know I can’t remember your life, our life, but I know that I have loved you every day I’ve known you.”

_Jane, when asked later, does not remember being brought inside.  
Rafael, when asked later, admits to pretending to fall asleep when reading so he can stare at his girls sleeping. _


	3. Chapter 3

 When Mariana Gloriana Villanueva Solano was just five years old, which in her book was “…a long long long time ago”. Her parents decided to take her to Preschool, against her wishes. Even though she was a big girl and a good girl and spent all of her time making her parents ‘ohh and ahh’ over her, they were forcing her to do the most “horrible horrible” (which is somehow five times worse than just regular horrible) thing imaginable.

Leave her hotel!

“What if Mr. Bass needs someone to play with him? Or what if Ms. Cohen needs help with her tea parties- that girl could not pour tea if her life depended on it.”

“When did our daughter become a concierge to our most important clients?” Jane asked waving to said Bass family across the lobby. Smile on her face- Jane had learned to play the part of the concerned hotel owner.

In fact, unbeknownst to either of her parents, Mariana (or Mari G as her clients called her), spent her play time wandering the hotel helping guests (which were usually children because the adults called the actual concierge, not for lack of trying). Since her mother was a writer she learned at an early age the importance of documenting everything.

For instance, Mr. Bass’s parents were very busy people, and happened upon Mariana still in her pajamas watching television in the lobby. Thinking it to be some sort of daycare, they left him with her upon some real estate emergency and picked him up later in the same place.

Mariana took him to the kitchen and the bathroom and they exchanged contact information for the next time he would be in town. Mariana had access to her mother’s calendar and simply told Siri to note “September 1st”

Preschool, as it turned out was just like having a hotel but with smaller people and tiny bathroom. Jimmy did not like speaking Spanish. Jorge did not like spaghetti. Since Jorge spoke Spanish and Jimmy liked spaghetti, it was easy to put them together for their own benefit.

A long long _even longer_ time later, when she is the owner of The Marbella she will say she had been in the customer service industry all of her life.

**

Jane had been reading Mariana’s hotel journals for over an hour. Other Jane had apparently printed the logs out for her, but Mariana had been documenting her observations since she was five. She pretty much had free reign on the hotel and knew when the cooks took their cigarette breaks and when to stock apple juice in the mini bars of hotel rooms.

Apparently someone named Henry was quite smitten with her, if the letters were any indication.

“Ready for our walk?” Jane asked, putting the journals back on the coffee table. She had gotten the most worn sneakers out of the closet and did her best not to stare at the drawer full of lingerie that cost more than her college tuition. Which Rafael had apparently been paying off slowly since they had been married.  There was also no prenup, no unpaid bills and they had a private accountant, Steve, who went to the bank for them.

She also apparently owned a timeshare in Ibiza and started the Alba Foundation to help illegal immigrants gain citizenship and spread awareness of Latino issues. Being rich apparently did have its perks.

This was her life now. It was not out of the realm of possibility that these particular events happened to her (she was a writer after all) but she definitely needed a walk with her daughter to clear her head.

Mariana was not wearing jogging clothes. She was wearing the world’s tiniest suit, her hair back and too much makeup on her face. The bright peach of her shirt matched one she had seen on Rafael perfectly and the tiny little heels had to have been custom made.

“Maybe I should have specified what kind of walk when you asked,” Jane commented, licking a kleneex to remove the makeup off her face, “What kind of walk are we taking?”

“We walk the VIP floors and then take the list to the concierge. Or Chef. Or Frankie.”

After a quick change, Mariana stood on the coffee table to pin a nametag on Jane’s blouse. They took the elevator up to the 20th floor and her tiny firecracker knocked on the door of 2001 like she owned the place (which Jane supposed she would one day)

Mariana elbowed her in the ribs and she recited the lines she learned in the elevator ride up, “Hi. My name is Jane Solano, and my family owns the hotel. Is there anything we can do for you to make your stay more amenable?”

Whomever answered the door gave Mariana a series of letters and numbers and she nodded, noting them on her tablet. The person kissed the girl’s cheeks before holding a hand out to shake hers.

Jane took the hand to shake, but he kissed her hand instead before closing the door.

“Okay what does G, C, 89 mean?”

“G is a Winery, C is a Cabernet and 89 is the year. Mr. Calvin is a vinter from France. There’s a wine conference in a few days and he always checks in early to get a good hotel. And we’re the best hotel in Miami.”

Jane knocks on the next door, a handsome little boy answers.  His whole outfit must be custom tailored.

“Henry.”

“Mariana.”

“Oh, is this your little boyfriend?” Jane smiled, immediately clamping her hands over her mouth.  Oops. Maybe she shouldn’t have told her daughter’s crush that she was her crush? The death look her daughter gives her is truly epic and Jane would laugh if it were directed at anyone else. Maybe being a Mom was easier than it looked. Embarrassing your daughter was just so easy-

The two of them talk in some sort of code before Mariana scribbles down his request.

The rest of the occupants on the twentieth floor were either not in or didn’t need anything.  They stop at the concierge desk, where she holds her tablet near a sensor and the information is apparently sent to billing and the Concierge who was already out. They go to the laundry room and gift shop and finally Chef in the kitchen has lunch pre-made for the three of them, Rafael obviously having an intense conversation with someone.

“-Do your job and figure this out.” He barked, quickly standing to push her stool out.

She had never eaten in a kitchen before, and Chef was apparently worth the title. She had worked in restaurants before and everything was heated or frozen, but the chef cut his own steak and made his own tortillas-

“This is lasagna. With steak and chilles and it is amazing-” Jane gasped.

She was expecting carnitas. Not lasagna. It was amazing. If she could think coherently she would add more adjectives in

“He named the dish after you.” Rafael “reminded” her, pointing to the little chalkboard at their counter. “Lasagne de Jane” was written in the world’s most elegant cursive. Apparently they always ate in the kitchen on Tuesdays and tasted Chef’s menu for their upcoming events.

She insists on washing their dishes and when she stands up and heads for the sink, Rafael, already on his next phone call, kisses her on the lips, definitely catching her off guard. He must have done the same motion a hundred times, he wasn’t thinking about it and- it was good.

Kissing him back was a reflex and he was pleasantly surprised at the end result.

“I’ll see you girls tonight.” He kisses the top of Mariana’s head on the way out and she can’t help but feel even more conflicted about her current situation.

**

“You know, it’s been seven years and I still hate you. I’m not your personal assistant, so sit your ass down.” Michael squinted looking between him and the door. He could easily text his lawyer under the table without the idiot noticing. Just the idea that he was behind this was insane. He would never hurt his family-

Rafael had volunteered to come in and Michael was still the child he’d always been, “Good. I still hate you. But I have Jane so my life ended up great. Thanks for that, by the way.”

Michael’s temper was obviously still a problem if Nadine had to hold him back. Good. He could take a punch if it meant Michael would get relocated to Alaska.

Smiling, he sat down in the dingy chair and looked at the photos again. Nothing was out of the ordinary in any of them. Michael had done some “investigating” of the car crash and the kidnapper said they were never in contact- the person just knew the jobs were getting done. Leaving the possibility that the true kidnapper was in the photos. There were 347 photos at different times in the past year. They were on Vacation at Disney World, they were going to doctor’s appointments. Mari was at school. Church.

No one looked familiar.

“I’ve been here for hours. I need to get back to work. I will call you if I think of anything. As always it’s been a pleasure Nadine.”

Rafael walks into the parking garage, a particularly strong wind blowing away the note that was under his windshield wiper before he even saw it.

Driving back to the hotel he hoped that Jane would remember something, anything by being around Mariana all day.

**

“Okay, kid it’s been four days. You got your birthday and two pity days off. You need to go to school tomorrow,” Jane announced, bringing the large bowl of popcorn towards the daybed.

Rafael looked up from his laptop and made sure Mariana knew he was in agreement before going back to his expense reports. The numbers just weren’t adding up. Laundry services were up, the concierge was making more money than ever.

Frankie’s numbers added up but they barely had an increase in cash flow in weeks.

Almost to the dollar amount. That just didn’t happen, especially with their busy season. Hopefully he could make sense of the numbers before tomorrow’s department head meeting.

Looking over to his girls, the two of them were people watching, Mariana’s favorite activity.

Well second favorite after planning her quinceañera and playing soccer. A telephone rings, and Rafael frowns looking down at his own phone that was not ringing. It wasn’t Jane’s phone either.

“Oh. That’s me.” Mari frowned, crawling across the daybed to the phone that was mounted on the wall. Rafael definitely did not remember having that installed. Or where one got a corded phone anymore. Mari apparently had everyone wrapped around her pinky finger, including the guests.

“Yes. Yes. Sorry. I would but its bedtime. Did you try the front desk? Laundry room? Sorry. I can check in the morning before school.”

“What was that about?” Rafael chuckled.“Ms. Tracey in 2005 asked the concierge for dry cleaning to be done before she left for the evening and it’s nowhere to be found.”Rafael tells her to call the night concierge, but she shook her head.

“That was Vince, Remy didn’t show up for work today.”

Jane put a hand on his arm, like his Jane would have, and told him it could wait until tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

The night of their (second) wedding, Rafael and Jane danced for hours.

Literal hours. After the cake smashing and the kissing- lots of kissing because it amused their two-year-old and people kept toasting them- and after way too much champagne, the two of them twirled and salsa’d and cha cha’d until Jane’s feet were sore. He was a really good dancer. Boy band level good.

After one particularly low dip, Jane noticed the cleaning crew coming in to clear the dirty plates, her mother and father asleep at one of the cabanas, Mari between them.

“Time to call it a night, Mrs. Solano?” Rafael asked smiling.

“You might need to carry me. And then you might need to soak my feet.” Jane laughed hiking her skirt up so she could wrap her ankles around his waist. Her sneakers fell to the ground and she kept laughing while he bent down to pick them up the two of them gracefully lowering, then coming back up.

“I think I’m still drunk.” Raf laughed, “And I am so thirsty. Couldn’t let the wife see me chicken out of our dance marathon.”

The two of them raid the kitchen, at least ten of the little water bottles meant for guest’s fridges scattered on the floor, the two of them almost knocking over the late night bellboy as Rafael struggled to get them back to their room.

“My apologies. My name is Rafael Solano, I own the hotel. This is my wife, Jane Solano. We just got married.”

“Jane Gloriana Villanueva Solano.” Jane corrects automatically, “You forgot my second middle name- that’s an important detail.”

Raf growled at her, “No. It’s the last name that’s important. Mine.”

The guest, who was a very important VIP, admits to knowing who they are. The older woman congratulates them on their wedding, and takes a very firm grip of her hand and makes her promise to “have babies soon”.

“We already have a baby, silly. Mariana Gloriana Villanueva Solano.”

The woman doesn’t seem to like that news and practically runs to the elevator. Jane has to admit that was possibly the weirdest conversation she’d had while wrapped around her husband.

And she had a suspicious number of those incidents throughout the years- too much thinking was making her head hurt and nudged her husband “Lets goo!”

“Only if you kiss me.”

“We can’t do that here.”

“I know the owner of the hotel,” Raf smirked, bending his neck up to be kissed. She obliged.

The next morning she was definitely thankful that Mariana was being babysat by her grandparents. She’s sure she hadn’t puked that much since she was pregnant.

**

Thanking the big guy quickly, she flushed the toilet and was definitely glad that she was home alone. Rafael hadn’t let her leave the hotel all week and she insisted on driving herself to the doctor’s office. It was a good mental exercise, blah blah blah.

He took Mariana to school and she was really alone for the first time.

She had been avoiding her cell phone. It was definitely brand new, the plastic film still on the buttons from being newly-opened. Hitting play on the first thing she recognized she expected Pandora to come up, but instead was a video.

_The camera zoomed in on her boobs, and Then-Jane smacked Rafael in the arm so hard the camera shook. “You’re gross.”_

_“You’re gross.” Rafael countered, kissing her cheek._

_He turned the camera back to the stage where Mariana was on stage at the talent show. Dressed in the cutest little bolero jacket, she sang Selena in perfect Spanish. “Jay. You promised me you weren’t gonna cry.”_

_On camera, she is crying, really ugly, tears and snot. Rafael was prepared, and pulled out some tissues and did his best to calm her down._

_“I wish we could have more kids. That’s our kid up there and she’s amazing and strong and sometimes I just want it so bad.” Jane sniffled, “And I don’t blame you. I don’t.”_

_“Trust me. If it was possible it would have happened, babe. Now. Breathe. Mari, over here!”_

Jane had felt horrible all week and hopefully the doctor could give her something for the headaches and nausea from her concussion. According to WebDoctor (WebMD apparently had branched out to real doctor services) having concussion symptoms this long was not a good sign.

“Congratulations, Mrs. Solano. You’re pregnant.”

 “That’s impossible.”

The nurse, who definitely was her nurse from the first time she came to emergency room, looked like he was about slam his clipboard down. “Remember the last time? You were pregnant then and you’re pregnant now.”

Jane looked at the pink stick and tried to rub the tension headache away. Rafael could not have children.  The odds of him having children were ten million to one. Ten million.

Her mother apparently was in Mexico doing a press tour with her father, Rafael was busy at work and telling your sad seven year old that she was going to be a big sister did not seem like a good idea. Lina, she had learned was the bar manager at Viento and Frankie was busy all day being the Entertainment Director.

She stops at the store to get some ginger chews and followed the GPS in Rafael’s car to Mariana’s school. The things she could remember about her, she could list on one hand. One them is her name-she couldn’t decide between Maria and Ana so she had just combined the two.

“Mrs. Solano. It’s such an honor.” The vice principal did not speak English. And also she apparently learned Italian in the past seven years. She could see everything so clearly, picking a school with Raf had taken months. Months. When Mari was three and not even considering school they needed a down payment before four and the deadline was coming up and this school was immersion and offered religion classes and-

“Just here to pick up my daughter.” Jane smiled awkwardly doing her best to distance herself from the very odd man. “Classes should be out now, right?”

“Oh there must be some confusion. Your mother was here to pick her up for her doctor’s appointment about an hour ago.”

Maybe she had finally embraced her inner feistiness, her mother’s unending energy suddenly very understandable. The permission slip in his hand was definitely not her signature, neither was the authorization code at the bottom of the page.

Grabbing his collar, she would later blame the pregnancy hormones.

“WHERE THE HELL IS MY KID!?!”

**

On the way to the station, she made her peace with God, Her Ancestors and Jesus for the amount of cursing she was about do to. It was all about her anger at them, not at her lord and savior. She was sure he would give her a pass for this.

In Spanish because it was more dramatic. She was her mother’s daughter of course, “I CANNOT BELIEVE THE TWO OF YOU! I ALMOST DIED BECAUSE SOMEONE WAS TRYING TO KIDNAP MY DAUGHTER? AND NOW, WHEN SHE WAS ACTUALLY KIDNAPPED YOU DIDN’T WANT TO STRESS ME OUT?!?! WELL TOO LATE THIS LATINA IS _STRESSED_. With the new baby and the current baby, the man I call my HUSBAND- this is just great!”

It takes Rafael a second but he knows what “new baby” means.

“Jane?”

“No crying. Because I’m a crier and when you cry I definitely cry.” Jane told him, turning to Michael, the one she knew was a liar. “Is this Madga?”

“The cameras picked up a woman, Latina, dark hair. Same age, height and weight as Xo. Even got it down to the heels. And the car. Unless she hired someone, which is also a possibility. ”

“Well thank god Petra is in prison.” Jane gasped. She remembered. She remembered she and Lachlan were in Prison, she remembered Rafael has a freckle on his butt. It didn’t all come back at once in a flash, but more of a slow trickle. She could recall last month, last year-

Someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure they thought her mother was picking her up from school. With one huge mistake: their trip to Mexico had been retweeted by 10.8 million followers. Everyone knew Xiomara De La Vega was not in Miami. It wasn’t adding up. Who would want to take her daughter? Why would she go with them?

“You’re pregnant?!” Rafael’s voice always squeaked when he was caught off guard.

“We have enough sex apparently we defied the ten million to one odds. Welcome to five minutes ago Raf, now we need to figure out who you pissed off enough to TAKE OUR KID.”

Raf put one finger in the air to pause the conversation, “You only call me Raf when you’re mad with me... You remember!”

“Please shoot me. Anyone.” Michael muttered looking out to the bullpen, “Get out of my office. Both of you. I will call you when we know more. Make sure you’re recording if someone calls with a ransom.”

**


	5. Chapter 5

Mr. Solano, while very smart in business matters, was not a very good husband.

He knew this and when his first wife went crazy, he knew that having a more advantageous marriage would be in his benefit. If they weren’t going to last emotionally then they should last in other ways. The Perez family owned a few casinos in Reno, but they also had a few parcels of land in Fort Lauderdale. So when his father suggested marrying their youngest daughter, he agreed.

Maria had a wild streak and bright smile that any man would find charming. She was beautiful and graceful, enjoyed singing in church and dancing the tango or the salsa- but he did not see her for those things. He saw the future land deals into his expansion into Florida. Their connections in Cuba and Puerto Rico.

He was not an easy man to love, but Maria did her best to try. She raised another woman’s baby and gave him a son. She was also his longest marriage because he knew he had to get his own men on the ground, his own ties with government officials for land deals. Money only went so far without connections and he wanted Miami. He wanted it bad.

Faking it also only went so far. When Maria asked for a divorce he gave it to her. They came to a fair number, arranged custody agreements, and they would tell Rafael after his birthday.

Maria, however turned out to be a dirty thief. His mother’s jewels, a few bonds, plus her divorce settlement in cash. She didn’t even say goodbye to her son. He tried to contact her father once, but it turns out that Maria Ana Perez had died ten months ago. He had never heard of him and the whole family at his wedding were frauds. Somehow she got all of the things he wanted from her, the contacts, the intel and fed it to him on a silver platter. He didn’t inquire about her dealings and it was his own fault for falling into her trap.

Not that he would tell anyone that, he had a reputation to uphold after all.

**

Jane liked to pride herself on not using money to solve all of their problems. This was not one of those times. Hiring a retrieval specialist wasn’t exactly easy but Rafael’s lawyers apparently had a plan for everything. The specialist had a consult with a technological savant who was breaking probably fourteen different laws but the two men were direct. She appreciated it. Their female boss came later to fill them in and by the time she’s explained that they found her in a diner outside of the Florida-Georgia Line.

More money, less problems. There was a jet waiting at the airport and they would call when Mariana was safe. The three of them packed up their gear and she couldn’t help but hug them for all of their help.

Closing the door behind them, Jane turned around and Rafael had their bags packed before she could blink.

Storming around the apartment like a madman, luggage being thrown, clothes being packed. He folded everything gently, packed their toothbrushes and then went into Mariana’s room and grabbed her suitcase.

Jane isn’t sure what to do. She didn’t know Rafael when he was getting chemo. Their life was so blissfully perfect, she wasn’t sure she could handle him hurting like this. He cries in their daughter’s closet, surrounded by her pink things. Rafael was her rock. He was always so calm when she was freaking out and now he needed her to be the strong one.

Crawling across the carpet, she sat with him in the dark.

“She’ll want to change, right? Did she even bring any clothes for her? She’s been driving all day and Mari likes sleeping outside, so she’s probably not sleeping-”

Jane puts a finger to his lips, she looks at her husband, really looks at him. She knows he’s charming. She knows he has a good heart and he’s smart and funny and he loves her and Mari more than he’s ever loved anything. He needed her now more than ever.

“I love you. I don’t tell you that enough and I’ve had amnesia this week, so maybe I have an excuse. We need to keep a level head here Rafael. What are we going to do when we find her? Someone crazy enough to physically change her appearance, someone who hired someone else to kidnap her? We are out of our league.”

Rafael nodded his understanding.

Standing up, Jane turned around to give him a hand, “Oh, we’re still going I just wanted to point out that we have no plan and need to make one on the way. The hell if that crazy bitch has my daughter ten seconds longer.”

Rafael laughs, and continues his vigorous packing.  She texts the chauffeur and by the time they’re in the lobby, Frankie is in charge of the hotel, and there’s a plane waiting at the airport. They were getting their daughter back. 

A short plane ride later, they were at the diner where she had last been seen. They looked horribly out of place with the SUV Rafael rented, the people going in for dinner not used to seeing a man who liked bright shirts and tan suits. At one point Jane would have fit in with them, but her own expensive outfit made her stick out just as much.

The cook, outside on a smoke break, looked at the two of them oddly.

“You’re here for the backpack, right?” He frowned, “That little girl said you’d be coming.”

He disappears inside, returning with Mariana’s backpack. Her mother spent three hours bedazzling the backpack before school started. In fact pretty much everything Mariana owned was Bedazzled that summer and it made her realize again, how much she needed her Mom and her daughter.

“What did she tell you?” Rafael asks, unzipping all of the compartments.

“She said she grabbed the wrong backpack at school and that her friend’s parents would be stopping in to come get it. She and her grandmother are on a little roadtrip and if you didn’t show up to call some fancy hotel in Miami. She was very bossy that girl.”

Jane does her best not to cry. Her best apparently isn’t enough.

A single note was wedged in between her junior bible’s pages: _Seminole Lake. Cabin 27._

The walk back to the car crushes her. They were losing a race, and it didn’t’ look like they were gonna win. They stop off at one of the hotels Rafael’s father used to own, the manager surprised to see Rafael Solano in the flesh.

Rafael’s family started in New York, and his father had setup a network of hotels on the way to Miami.

“Mr. Solano. Mrs. Solano. Welcome to Georgia.”

Normally Rafael would look for things to point out to manager-annoying habit of hotels owners. She could practically see the wheels spinning. They had dead floral arrangements and even though it was a tiny hotel in comparison it still had the Marquis Group name on it. Jane had only ever stayed at The Marbella and The Bella Rosso in Italy but Rafael had high expectations.

“Relax, Stephen. I’m here on vacation.” Rafael sighed heavily, “We’ll take whatever you’ve got.”

Jane falls into bed and cries, exhausted from the day. Rafael’s arms wrap around her middle, his hands resting on where their new baby was growing. She thinks about how unfair it was, but that just made her cry harder.

She falls asleep and when she wakes up, Rafael is gone.

‘Gone for a run. Be back before breakfast.’

Something twisted in her gut, telling her that Rafael was not going to be back for breakfast. Pregnancy hormones + Anxiety were not a good combination for Jane, and her brain could only think of the worst case scenario. Calling the Recovery Specialist, she explained what happened and was more than relieved when they called a contact at the FBI. All she could do was wait until morning, bags packed. If he wasn't back at 7:01am she would tear Georgia apart looking for them.

**

Blasting the music louder, Rafael pushed past the burn in his legs, the Motel down the street from his hotel definitely oddly busy for a Wednesday night. A blue station wagon pulled up to the office and Mariana hopped out seeing him across the street.

_There was no way he was that dumb-But alas, he was._

He ducked before crossing the street trying to stay out of the driver's line of sight. Unfortunately the oncoming car hit him hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs. Vision blurry, a woman ushered Mariana into the new vehicle, tossing him into the trunk. His rib was definitely bruised and his last thought was of Jane.

_Actually his last thought was about how all of the people in the parking lot didn't notice his abduction. But was just hit by a car. If he was thinking clearly then of course, his thoughts would be about Jane._


	6. Chapter 6

Mariana Gloriana Villanueva Solano’s first word was “ring”.

Jane, having spent the majority of her daughter’s short life trying to get her to say “Mami” was, needless to say, confused at this fact. She was the right age to start talking, she recognized her mother’s voice-

“Mari. My baby. My child. Ma-Me.” Jane tried again.

“Ring!” Mari corrected her, grabbing her spoon away from her mother.  Jane figured her baby would say Mami when she was ready and allowed her to try to feed herself. Unsuccessfully. Her first book was done. Ready to be sent to the agent and maybe-kinda-almost printed. If she could only write the perfect ending to her first novel. She had been debating several different endings and since she was of the frame of mind that life was not free, she would work one day a week at the hotel. Or she was distracting herself from the novel that was up to you to decide. “Okay, baby child. I will be back at four. Daddy will come visit you for lunch.”

“Ring!"

Jane, as much as she liked working, and loved her baby, hated having a Nanny. Even if was for six hours every week. But again, she was an unwed mother, living with her boyfriend of one year and eight months, who stayed at home to write her first book. Her life was messy and complicated, but it was hers.

Waiting for the elevator, Rafael practically ran into her on his sprint towards their room. “What was the word?” He was so excited, mainly because she left her text message vague for dramatic effect. Because, in truth, as hard as she was trying to get Mari to say “Mami”, Rafael had been trying equally as hard do get her to say “Daddy”.

“Her first word was ring.” Jane sighed, leaning against the elevator rail, “Which is a really weird word if you think about it.”

Jane Gloriana Villanueva while smart, beautiful and talented, sometimes got lost in her own thoughts. So as the elevator doors closed, and they began to head down to the lobby, she was thinking about several things: the baby, Whether or not to keep her teaching license, the nanny. Her abuela, to name a few. She did not notice, for instance, her boyfriend of one year and nine months (not eight) had been perched on the floor, on one knee for the entire elevator ride. She did not notice him there until she had tripped over him, while exiting the elevator, the rather large diamond ring sliding across the floor, into the flower petals and candles that had been placed meticulously.

She did notice, while in a pile of laughs on the floor, that her daughter was crawling towards where the ring had fallen and picked it up.

“RING!”

“Marry Me, Jane Gloriana Villanueva. Today. Now.” Rafael was crying and she was crying and her baby was about to eat her engagement ring, so Jane dove for it, before they had a diaper situation. “Yes, Rafael, I will marry you today.” They go to the courthouse and don’t tell anyone except for Frankie and Lina. That night she makes love to her husband and makes the decision not to kill off one of her characters.

Because if her real-life romance was this good, her characters deserved that as well.

**

When Marinana wanted to wake him up, she tugged on his hand.

When Mariana needed him to wake up she plugged his nose. Jerking awake, he wondered why he was on the floor when his ribs were probably cracked, but Mariana had her arms wrapped around him, squeezing like she was never going to let go.

The cabin was small but old. He heard someone coming towards the door, stopping to fiddle with the lock. He had no weapons but there was a lamp he could heft-

The door opened, and he threw the lamp, the woman ducking into a roll to miss the shards. She looked pissed. The woman said something to Mari and Rafael realized he should be paying attention. The kidnapper obviously had an accomplice and their odds of escaping significantly decreased if she came through the door.

“I’m sorry?” Rafael asked, shielding Mariana behind him. The door was only ten feet away and if Jane was smart she would have someone ping his cellphone-

“I’m your mother.” The woman couldn’t be his mother. His mother was dead or in a gutter somewhere. He had looked for her. Maria Perez. There were at least 500 in Miami, if she was in Miami. Before that they were in Fort Lauderdale or New York and he gave up when Mari was born.

She didn’t have the right to come into his life now.

“You did all of this? You tried to kill my wife, you kidnapped my daughter, for what? To say hi? Well, hi. I’m here and I’m leaving because this is insane! Next time call my office.”

The woman, his mother, looks at him and squints, “I didn’t try to kill Jane. And I didn’t kidnap Mari.”

“No but I did.”

Rafael doesn’t see the gun.

He doesn’t get a good luck at his mother’s reaction but he can feel Mari crying, her whole body shaking. The kidnapper looked like Xiomara. The hair, the makeup, the too high heels- damn.  But the voice was wrong, all wrong.

 “Next time, lead with that!” Rafael whispered, blindly feeling for the door knob. “Who the hell are you, and what do you want?”

“I was looking for my daughter. It must have been years ago- at your wedding. You didn’t invite your own sister, I can hardly believe it. I found her of course, that little place in Mexico she’d been staying at- used to be mine, you know. When your father said he’d love me forever.”

His mother puts her arms up defensively, “Why are you doing this Angela?”

“Because he lied. And my daughter didn’t want to see me. So I waited until that entitled asshole got married again, and my Luisa, my baby, was dancing and happy. It was worth the trip and the disguises, but then I saw him and that woman in the lobby. The two of them so disgusting in love. Practically having sex in the lobby, Maria! And my baby, my grandbaby, already a toddler. I just needed to change my face and my hair and I could have my life back!”

Feeling behind his back for Mari, she was no longer there. Jane apparently did ping his cellphone because she was there staring oddly at the back of the crazy woman’s head. Rafael never would have believed it, but Jane took a frying pan and hit the woman so hard she hit the ground.

“Never come near my child again! Oh. Wow. I did that. Totally Buffy-style. Oh god, I did.” Jane whimpered, just noticing the other woman in the room. Her hands went up defensively, “Oh god. There’s an accomplice.”

Rafael doesn’t think he’d seen her go so quickly from angry to distraught. Crossing the room, he wrapped his arms around her waist, doing his best to nudge her away from the body on the ground. “It’s okay, Jay. She’s here to rescue us.”

His mother checks Angela for a pulse and then makes a phone call. “I need to leave. I can’t be here when they pick her up. Have those three keep her restrained at all times. They’ve got a secure van.”

Jane’s mouth agape, his mother exits out the door without any explanation. She says something to Mari and then drives away in their rental car.

“Who was that? Who is this? What happened?”  
  
“That was my mother. She’s a federal agent. This is Luisa’s mother. She wanted Mari to be some sick fantasy of Luisa. She got plastic surgery to look like your mother. We met at our second wedding. That lady in the lobby?”

“That’s your mother? That’s the lady from 2005. Her laundry always goes missing and… that is tell from her handler! Rafael!” Jane smacks him in the chest and if they weren’t in Georgia, with no wifi or a car she would be writing this all down.

Mariana poked her head inside, “Gran told me to stay outside. She didn’t tell you to stay inside!”

Picking up his daughter, he was relieved when the police cars started kicking up dust in the distance.


	7. Chapter 7

Maria Lopez, graduated Quantico third in her class. Her brother had died in a gang fight, and her mother would shoot up anything that came with a needle, whether it was dirty or clean, afterwards. After her mother died from HIV, she put herself through college, working full-time. Her father sent money every once in a while but he was an oil rigger or deep sea fisherman or both and not fatherly material. She was okay with that.

Her first assignment was to watch and observe Emilio Solano for his father’s drug business. She was to marry him and earn his trust while playing the part of the dutiful wife. She had to learn how to dance, and how he liked women to look. Younger and polished, he had a type. His current wife was pregnant and starting to show signs of a condition she couldn’t pronounce and when she was deemed field ready she pounced.

He was clean, but they kept her on. She was the warm mother to Luisa, and she had a fondness for Emilio that made the job easy. Too easy. She got soft. Someone was making waves in the Solano organization, but she could never figure out who it was. “Sin Rostro” as he was called was young, and skimming from the top. Not that Emilio or his father knew that. When she became pregnant she wanted out. Her son deserved better.

Emilio deserved better than his father.

They kept her under until Rafael was four. The night she was leaving, Emilio’s ex, Angela got out of the mental institution and tried to take Luisa. They were almost do the fence, and she called for backup. Her cover blown, she couldn’t even see her son before they were taking her away-

She was in Tulsa, Honolulu, until she finally was able to come back to Miami. Emilio’s new wife was looking for a tutor for two children and she took it. Rafael didn’t even remember what she looked like. She taught him Spanish, French and Italian and he grew up to be a good man.

Or so she thought until she met that _witch_ Petra.

Then he got cancer, and she donated stem cells or blood or anything that would help him live. He got better. He dumped Petra and-

She met Jane (and Mariana) when they were looking for a Nanny. She was not qualified but she had some good (fake) references and they used her as a backup. Her grandchild, with the little bit of hair and the little nose-

“Isn’t she just adorable? She looks just like my abuela when she was a baby.” Jane, who was kind and smiled and beautiful was wonderful. She had a teaching degree but was writing a book and something about that just spoke to her on a soul-touching level.

Maria did her best not to cry. She was ready to retire and meet her son-

Until she got the phone call that they wanted her back. Sin Rostro’s network was more extensive now and they needed her help. He was operating out of Rafael’s hotel and so she stayed there waiting. He expanded the hotel, she moved floors. Mariana was running around the hotel at four and she learned how to make cookies in a toaster oven and met her granddaughter during tea parties with no tea.

It was all so perfect until Angela came back into her life again.

**

Recounting her kidnapping went oddly well. She had learned to look for details, and the details were these:

She, being called the Nurse’s office, assured the nurse that she did not have an appointment. She had access to her parent’s calendars since before she could read, and her mother would not forget to tell her this, or to put the date in the calendar. She also would not have an appointment during school because she was a Villanueva. They did not miss school for checkups. Car accidents: yes. Anything else: no.

The nurse then removed a prosthetic nose and changed her outfit to reveal her grandmother.

Mari had been to her grandfather’s sets more times than she could count. She knew people did not whip off costumes or change their voice without a reason. During her “time away” as she called it, Mari would picture an eye patch on her fake abuela. Her real abuela was in Mexico City, according to her Instagram feed: #Vaycay #Honeymoon3 #Workcation #VivaLaMexico.

Upon showing the imposter her cellphone, Eyepatch pulled out her own cellphone, showing her mother’s demolished car.

Mari knew her options sucked. But the things she loved in life were: her family, her hotel and soccer. In that order, so she went with Eyepatch. She wondered where the real nurse was, and why no one wondered why she was not playing soccer with the other children outside at gym class.

Being a child in an adult’s world was her burden, she supposed.

The two of them walked out of the school, and Eyepatch had her in the car. She stayed quiet the whole ride to Georgia. Did not speak to anyone when they stopped to eat, didn’t try to run away. She supposed Eyepatch wanted to talk to her, having gone to all the trouble of taking her, but she knew you did not negotiate with terrorists.

Because she knew with every fiber in her being that her parents were coming for her, and later when Detective Michael would ask her about it, she needed to remember everything.

**

Rafael didn’t know why he was sitting in the lobby. Like a dog waiting for their master to come home. His mother, was alive and well and had been living in his hotel for the better part of five years. Luisa’s mother was in a federal prison. He couldn’t tell his sister that. He could tell her that she tried to abduct her niece and live out some sick twisted fantasy- how did you even start that conversation?

Pulling the file was easy. Assumed names were common, but she always asked for room 2005, and Mari would always push a little tea cart up to have tea with the nice woman before continuing her rounds.

No clue that was her grandmother. Or that Maria Lopez (her real name) had been her nanny when she was baby, or his tutor when he was a boy. The same woman had been in his life and he didn’t even notice.

“Rafael, she will come back when she can.” Jane, his Jane, was back and he could not be more grateful for that. “We’re gonna be okay.”

Rafael was not sure of that. He wasn’t sure of anything.

She sat in his lap, like she had done a million times before, and the two of them sat in the lobby, people milling around them. He always thought his hotel would be his legacy. To Jane. To Mari. His castle. But it wasn’t a castle, it was a building that hundreds of people were in and all of these crazy things kept happening to him-

“Sir, we’re ready for you.” Rafael kissed Jane’s temple and headed back towards his office where the forensic accountants were trying to figure out where his extra money was going.

**

“The one thing that I don’t get, is how Luisa’s mother knew where to go. How did she get out of her mental institution?” Nadine frowned, submitting the final paperwork that would be sent to the feds. Michael had been wondering the same thing but maybe it was one of those things that really didn’t have an answer.

Checking his emails, he noticed the Notice to Appear in the matter of Petra Solano vs. The State. Dated yesterday.

“No. There’s no way.” Michael frowned, checking his older emails. There was just one notice, dated the same day he was in Georgia looking for Mariana.

Glancing up at the television, Magda’s face was on the screen, smiling at her daughter, “I am so glad justice had been served today. For my daughter. For my family.”

The two events couldn’t be connected- could they?

**

“And then, I accepted my award with much gusto and surprise!” Rogelio reenacted his surprised look and did his best to make his granddaughter laugh. When Rafael tweeted him, of course the first thing he did was fly back home. There was imposter and a kidnapping and memory loss and his Jane needed him. For his exceptional babysitting skills, of course. And the whole father thing- Xo reminded him of that.

Mariana, so much like her mother, did not care about his awards, or his IMDB profile, she just liked hearing him talk.

“Do you, maybe, want to talk about what happened, mi amor?”

He was not good with serious things like kidnappings, and even though he had been kidnapped several times for TV. He had no advice or words-

“I am okay. She didn’t hurt me.”

“It’s creepy, right? I mean she took my face to a plastic surgeon.” Xiomara shuddered, “I mean I know I’m hot, but come on. Hopefully it was at least circa 2006. I had great hair then.”

Mariana crawled into his lap and took comfort in his familiar smell. “Hopefully things will be quiet for awhile.” Xiomara sighed.

“Yeah until the new baby comes.” Mari shrugged, ducking to miss the spit coming out of her abeula’s mouth. She was a Villanueva, she too had a flair for the dramatic.

**

Expecting her grandmother to storm off for the elevators, to get the details from her mother, she was surprised that her abuela was looking across the lobby at someone. The woman, who looked every bit like a high-profile client, was looking around the lobby in awe. Her father’s renovations made the hotel look significantly different from when she was a baby. Perhaps the whale had returned to familiar grounds. Mariana, as future owner of The Marbella, took this as an opportunity to dust herself off and resume her duties at the hotel.

“Hello, my name is Mariana Gloriana Villanueva Solano, and my family owns this hotel. How can I help you?”

The woman bent down to her level and smiled, “Hello. My name is Petra.”

Her grandparents called for security and just as she was turning away, the woman reached over and pulled a hair from her head. It wasn’t particularly painful, but it was strange.

“I’ll be seeing you, Mariana.”

Mariana really hoped that wasn’t true.

 

** THE END **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points if you thought it was Magda all along because it was. :D  
> DELETED SCENE:
> 
> Remy, as it turns out was dead.
> 
> Stuffed into an ice machine on the 20th floor. Apparently she had come to work and tried to find the dry cleaning for the person in 2005. However there was no person checked into 2005. In fact there had never been a person checked into that room since the floor opened.
> 
> The odds of that happening are slim to none.
> 
>  
> 
> My whole point to that was Remy (unimportant character) learned about Maria staying in the hotel. Angela killed her to throw Maria off her trail. Because of Maria was in her affairs there was no way that her plan would work. Angela also cut the brakes on the other kidnapper because she wanted him to do the grunt work so she wouldn't be caught. After that he wasn't necessary. Angela also took all of the jewels from Emilio.
> 
> In my future Lachlan and Petra wrongfully go down for Sin Rostro's dealings and Magda is PISSED. She digs up whatever information she can about Rafael's mother- trying to hurt him but then finds out about Angela. Alba was deported in my story- before the episode aired I thought they would do something similar. Yes. There may have been allusions to other CW shows.... and the team that helps Jane and Raf find Mariana in mind was Leverage Consulting. 
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for all the feedback and i will write more Jane the Virgin fic in the future.
> 
>  
> 
> -J


End file.
